The 2013 Colorado Floods

Longmont's Response

The historic flood event of September, 2013 was an unprecedented event in the City's history. As the rain began to fall, we started to manage the event we thought we were going to see - the 100 year flood. We had planned extensively for that event and started to put that plan into action. Mother Nature had a different plan. It became clear the morning of the 12th that this event far exceeded our planning as every stream, ditch and river exceeded its 500 year flood event flows. The City was cut in two, isolated from help and we were on our own. The St. Vrain River was ground zero for the flood, its flows exceeding 37,000 cfs, while 10,000 cfs is a 100 year event for the St. Vrain (while the stream gauge monitor for the St. Vrain was broken, this visualization of Boulder Creek in Longmont gives an idea of the kind of spikes and greatly above average flows were encountered, only the St. Vrain's were more severe). The river breached its banks west of the City and crossed over the railroad tracks, pushing 6-8 feet of water into neighborhoods outside the FEMA floodplain, destroyed a mobile home park , destroyed 6 of the 7 raw water sources for the City, flooded our wastewater treatment plant and caused over 150 million dollars of public infrastructure damage. This map-based tour provides a sense of the flooding in Longmont.

An aerial view of the flooding in Longmont. For many more videos like this go to the Longmont Flood YouTube channel

Even with those historic flows, there were no deaths caused by the event in Longmont. This was due to a combination of good planning, heroic actions by City personnel and a good deal of luck. That in a nutshell is what went right.

The event also highlighted the critical aspect of public information. We had five personnel dedicated to public information 24x7 throughout the event constantly updating websites, social media, giving interviews, etc. A constant flow of information creates a level of trust with our community that has a calming effect. It is our responsibility to be transparent with what we know. We must get the facts right and get them out in every way we can. That must continue with every event we face.

Every event is a teacher, and there were lessons from this event too. We must be redundant in our evacuation methods. We must be prepared to be self-sufficient when cut off from our partner agencies. Above all, we need to allow our community to be a community. Get people back to their homes as soon as we can. Clear debris out quickly and communicate effectively. A lesson well learned by this event is how powerful the spirit of community is and as a government we must do everything we can to create that spirit. What we found overall was a City and a community that united in the face of adversity. The spirit of community prevailed. We are a long way from rebuilding our City, but our community remains united and I am confident we will overcome any challenge.

An interview with Dan Eamon about Longmont's response to the flood. For more interviews and a look inside Longmont's Emergency Operations Center during the flood event, see the Longmont Flood YouTube channel

--Dan Eamon, City of Longmont Emergency Manager